Autism doc 'Life, Animated' a touching screening at Tivoli Theatre
<h3 class="briefHead">Films animate miracle</h3>
The After Hours Film Society presents Roger Ross Williams' documentary "Life, Animated," at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove. The doc tells the story of an autistic boy named Owen, whose ability to communicate drastically improved after watching "Beauty and the Beast" plus other Walt Disney animated classics - all of which he memorized. Admission $10 (discounts for society members). afterhoursfilmsociety.com.
<h3 class="briefHead">Getting organ-ized</h3>
Jay Warren, the official organist of the Silent Film Society of Chicago since 1998, presents a silent film short along with several organ solos accompanied by 1920s glass slides at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove.
The short will be "Teddy at the Throttle," a 1917 silent thriller starring Gloria Swanson, Wallace Beery and Teddy the Dog. (Yes, the heroine gets tied to the train tracks again.)
The Tivoli, once dubbed the "Wonder Theatre of suburban Chicago" as one of the nation's first sound-equipped venues, opened in 1928, although Warren will be playing a vintage Wurlitzer originally installed at the Indiana Theater of Indian Harbor in 1924.
Free admission. silentfilmsjaywarren.com or classiccinemas.com
<h3 class="briefHead">Bruce Lee returns</h3>
The Park Ridge Classic Film series continues with Bruce Lee's greatest screen action film "Enter the Dragon" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Pickwick Theatre, 5 S. Prospect Ave., Park Ridge. The climactic "hall of mirrors" faceoff between Lee (at 135 pounds) and the blade-gloved villain was named one of the top 10 best cinematic fight scenes by the Dann & Raymond Movie Club. Admission $10 ($6 for 2 p.m. matinee). parkridgeclassicfilm.com.
<h3 class="briefHead">Act acourtingly</h3>
Join me and film historian Raymond Benson as Dann & Raymond's Movie Club presents "Order in the Court! The Great Courtroom Movies" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights. Free admission! Free popcorn! Clips from such classics as "12 Angry Men," "The Caine Mutiny," "The Devil and Daniel Webster," plus 11 more. ahml.info.
• Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Friday in Time out!